Fritz the hippo turns two!

Fritz goes for the gold in the baton grabbing competition.

 

Over the weekend, the famous Fritz, also known by friends as Tater Tot, celebrated his second birthday at Hippo Cove in the Cincinnati Zoo, along with his mom Bibi, his even more famous sister Fiona, and his father Tucker. All these photos were from Saturday's birthday celebration. I arrived just after the cake ceremony.

Fritz with his tasty "birthday cake." Photo by my friend Lisa Hubbard.

Early birds could witness Fritz getting his "birthday cake," which was an extravaganza, some colorful fruit popsicle treats stacked on top of huge lettuce leaves.  The entire bloat got some watermelon on Friday, to celebrate National Watermelon Day, which was actually Saturday. 

No, Fiona, it isn't your birthday.
(But she posed anyway in the frame.)

The Cincinnati Zoo's enrichment team had painted a birthday balloon frame, like a birthday card, onto the viewing window. Fiona took her turn posing there, pretending it was her birthday too. Since Fiona was born in January, her birthday parties are often impacted by the cold and winter weather, so this was her chance, while brother Fritz was busy playing with his favorite stick.

Fiona, now age 7, is famous the world over for her miraculous survival after being born six weeks prematurely, weighing only 29 pounds instead of the 50-100 pounds that a full term hippo baby weighs, and being unable to stand to nurse. She was raised by the keepers, and had several medical interventions to save her. Eventually, she was reintroduced to her mother Bibi, and then her father, Henry. Her journey was covered heavily on social media at the time, and since then, numerous books have been written about her. Her fans come from all over the world to see her and her hippo family at the Cincinnati Zoo. And now Fritz has gotten some notoriety too, mostly for being Fiona's little brother. 

Fritz likes to stalk unsuspecting logs, sneaking up and then attacking.
 The logs don't know what hit them.

Fritz on the prowl for logs.

Got one! Fritz does it over and over again.

Fritz really likes the long stick.
 Lots of paparazzi around to capture the moment. 

The happy birthday boy

More paparazzi,

A smile from the birthday boy.

There goes Fritz, running through the birthday frame with his family.

Fritz with his extra long stick, a favorite toy on his birthday.

Fritz also spent some time chasing his daddy Tucker around and giving him some bites, as Fritz likes to do!

Fritz gives daddy Tucker some bites. It's one of his favorite games.

Some fans even wore special Fritz birthday t-shirts for the occasion and were happy to pose with Zoo Director Thane Maynard, who stopped by to wish Fritz a happy birthday.

Fritz is only two years old, and will remain at Hippo Cover for a few more years, but will have to leave as he grows up. Although Daddy Tucker is quite tolerant and loving now, when Fritz gets older, the older hippo bull will see him as competition, and there would be fights. When the time comes, Fritz will be sent to another zoo, where he can start his own family.

We all know that Fiona isn't going anywhere. 

A new baby gorilla for the Cincinnati Zoo

(Update: The Zoo has announced that Mondika is a girl. So she will be called Mona.)

Asha and baby Mondika

Tuesday was a big day for 8 day old Mondika, the new baby Western Lowland Gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo. This was the day Mondika was introduced to an adoring public.

Dienstag war ein großer Tag für die 8 Tage alten Mondika, das neue Baby Tiefland - Gorilla im Zoo von Cincinnati. Dies war der Tag, an dem Mondika einem bewundernden Publikum vorgestellt wurde. 

Proud Papa Jomo watches over his little family

The baby's mother Asha showed off her little one, with Silverback father Jomo nearby.

Die Mutter des Babys Asha zeigte ihre Kleine mit Silverrücken Vater Jomo in der Nähe.

Jomo, Asha and Baby Mondika high in the trees

The baby will be nicknamed Mona if a girl, and Mondo if it is a boy. (Update: Yes, it's a girl)

Das Baby wird den Kurznamen Mona bekommen, wenn sie ein Mädchen ist, und Mondo, sollte es ein Junge sein.

Asha is a first time mother, but is doing great

When the baby was born inside the gorilla living quarters, and in the days after, all the gorilla family was present. This is how it is done in the jungle. The baby is part of an extended family, including little one year old Gladys.

Als das Baby in der Gorillaanlage geboren wurde, und auch in den Tagen danach, war die ganze Gorillafamilie anwesend. Dies ist so, wie es auch im Dschungel gemacht wird. Das Baby ist Teil einer Großfamilie, darunter ebenso die ein Jahr alte Gladys.

Jomo the father Silverback

Parents Asha and Jomo both belong to the Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas, and the baby, while it will continue to live at the Cincinnati Zoo, belongs to the Gladys Porter Zoo as well.

Eltern Asha und Jomo gehören beide zum Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas, und auch das Jungtier, während es weiterhin im Cincinnati Zoo lebt, gehört dem Gladys Porter Zoo ebenso. 

Gladys just plays as usual.
 She has shown a little interest in the baby, coming by and touching the little one.

Jomo wanders by Gladys, who is being just as silly as always

The Cincinnati Zoo made history last year by taking in newborn Gladys, who had been rejected by her mother at the Gladys Porter Zoo, and was raised first by keepers, and then by a surrogate Gorilla mother, M'Linzi. During Tuesdays big event, Gladys ignored everyone else, and continued to play and have fun on her own.

Der Zoo von Cincinnati machte Geschichte im letzten Jahr durch die Aufnahme von Neugeborenen Gladys, die von ihrer Mutter im Gladys Porter Zoo abgelehnt worden war, und wurde zuerst durch Tierpfleger versorgt und dann durch ein Gorillapflegemutter M'Linzi übernommen. Während am Dienstag alles ein große Ereignis war, ignoriert Gladys das Gescehen, und fuhr fort, zu spielen und Spaß zu haben auf eigenen Beinen. 

Asha sometimes holds her baby in strange positions. She is learning how to be a good mother

Here Mondika is upside down

Asha caries the baby low, and Mondika has to climb up to find her dinner.
 For the first 10 days, the keepers did not check to see whether it is a girl or a boy.
  They didn't  want to disturb the mother.

Looking for lunch

11 year old Asha carries her baby around quite low, instead of cradling the infant in her arms. She is a first time mother, and sometimes holds the baby in awkward positions. But she will learn.

11-jährige Asha trägt ihr Baby ziemlich niedrig herum, statt das Kind in ihren Armen zu wiegen. Sie ist zum ersten Mal Mutter, und manchmal hält sie das Baby inungünstigen Positionen. Aber sie wird es lernen.

Asha and her new baby. The new mother was very good at holding her baby so the crowd at the zoo could see.

Asha gave birth to her 5 pound baby on August 4. This tiny one is the 49^th Gorilla born at the Cincinnati Zoo, but it is the first born in nearly 8 years.

Asha gebar ihr Baby mit 5 pounds Gewicht am 4. August. Dieses winzige Wesen ist das 49. Gorillakind im Zoo von Cincinnati geboren, aber es ist das erste, das nach fast 8 Jahren geboren wurde.

Asha seems to be amazed when she looks at her new baby

There are about 765 gorillas in zoos worldwide. Western Lowland gorillas are critically endangered in the wild, with less than 175,000 of the species.

Es gibt etwa 765 Gorillas in Zoos weltweit. Westliche Flachlandgorillas sind in der Wildnis sehr stark gefährdet, mit weniger als 175.000 ihrer Arten.

Ron Evans, Curator of Primates, gives yet another TV interview

Ron Evan, Curator of Primates at the Cincinnati Zoo, was very busy on Tuesday morning, giving many television interviews.

Ron Evan, Kurator der Primaten im Cincinnati Zoo, war sehr beschäftigt am Dienstagmorgen, was zu vielen Fernsehinterviews führte.

Thane Maynard, director of the Cincinnati Zoo,
 was there for the baby's public debut, and I got to chat with him at bit

And of course I had to visit the Lords of the Arctic. Here is Berit roaming around.

Meeting up with Thane Maynard at the Cincinnati Zoo

There was time for one last polar bear visit in 2011.

Rizzo

In the days between Christmas and New Years, we ventured to the wonderful Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden to visit 22 year old Li'l One, 14 year old Rizzo and 13 year old Berit during the PNC Festival of Lights. This is a magical time to visit the Cincinnati Zoo. There are colored lights everywhere, and tunnels of twinkling lights between various areas. A black-light puppet show, a 4-D Polar Express movie, and a festive train ride make it a great family experience. But I was here to see the bears. Little did I suspect, I would meet someone else!

Berit swimming her laps

Mid-Afternoon, and Berit was heading for the pool area to do her laps. Li'l One and Rizzo were napping. As I was gazing at Berit in the magnificent pool observation area, I heard a familiar voice. It was Cincinnati Zoo Director and well-known animal expert Thane Maynard. I recognized his voice from “The 90 Second Naturalist” on the radio, and his many TV appearances. What an opportunity! I introduced myself, and we had a most wonderful conversation about the polar bears.

Me with Thane Maynard, Director of the Cincinnati Zoo. Berit is swimming in the background

He told me that there are plans for Rizzo to move from the Cincinnati Zoo to the Buffalo Zoo for breeding opportunities. She has been here for a good number years with Li'l One with still no cubs. There is a hopeful breeding male, 21 year old Nanuq in Buffalo. He was rescued in Alaska as a wild cub in 1987 and grew up in the Henry Villas Zoo in Madison Wisconsin. Since Nanuq was born in the wild, it is important to pass his genes on into the zoo population if possible. The Buffalo Zoo is also where Rizzo was born, so she will be going home, so to speak. There is currently another female at the Buffalo Zoo, 10 year old Anana.

Berit and Li'l One will remain at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Rizzo

Rizzo defers to Li'l One

Thane also reminded me of the CREW polar bear breeding program project centered at the Cincinnati Zoo, whereby “poop” samples from female polar bears in zoos all over the country are sent to Cincinnati every week during pertinent times to test for pregnancy hormones using cutting edge technology. In this way, zoos can have a head's up on whether a certain bear might be pregnant. Previously, zoos just had to go on behavior and den up the females in the fall on the chance they might be pregnant.

He said that zoos made a terrible mistake in breeding polar bears in the 70s and 80s, in giving contraceptives to the female bears, in that they didn't become fertile when they went off the contraceptives. Now zoos have learned from that mistake. Polar bears are notoriously difficult to breed, in the wild and in captivity, and it is difficult to keep the cubs alive, but a lot of progress is being made.

Thane remarked how he is personally aware of how the climate in changing. On the day we talked, he said that he was planning to go running later that day, and here it was, late December. However, he said, we won't completely lose wild polar bears. Some bears will remain in the very northern areas, and other are already breeding with other bears, and there will be more hybrids. But today's polar bears are facing a very difficult future, since they need the sea ice to hunt seals, and the sea ice is so late in forming, especially this year.

I told him how I had been allowed to feed some figs to Augo, a 6 month old baby polar bear in Denmark this past May. He reminded me of the 1990 incident in the Cincinnati Zoo in which one of the zookeepers lost a hand to an adult polar bear by reaching into a cage at the wrong time. These are incredibly strong and unpredictable animals.

Rizzo and Li'l One - Don't
fight over your toys, kids.

Rizzo

Berit (in back) and Rizzo

Cincinnati Zoo's Lords of the Arctic exhibit opened in the summer of 2000. It has a 12 foot deep 70,000 gallon pool with a spectacular underwater viewing area. There are pools, waterfalls, and trails wandering through the separated areas of the compound. I will save stories and more pictures about my Christmas visit with Li'l One, Rizzo and Berit for a future blog. Stay tuned.